China Denies Link to Cuba Bases, Says They are Not for Spying on the US
China has denied a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that links it to four bases in Cuba that may be used to gather signal intelligence (SIGINT) on the United States.
CSIS analyzed over a dozen “sites of interest” in Cuba and found four that stand out as most likely to be supporting China’s spying ambitions. The sites have undergone observable upgrades in recent years, including one located on a hill overlooking Havana, Bejucal, which has been suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence for years.
China’s Foreign Minister Mao Ning dismissed the report, saying that the cooperation between China and Cuba is “aboveboard, not targeting any third party, and does not allow any malicious slander from third parties.” Cuban Foreign Minister Carlos de Cossio also dismissed the report, saying that the claims of Chinese spying hubs in Cuba originate from “Cuba’s enemies” in the US as a way of justifying “the criminal policy of economic aggression. It is absolutely false.”
The report by CSIS found that the four sites had “observable SIGINT instrumentation,” clear physical security infrastructure, and other signs of intelligence collection. The Bejucal site, in particular, has been of interest due to its potential use in intercepting satellite communications, including those used by the US to launch rockets from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
China has provided development financing to Cuba, with around $7.8 billion in aid over the years, which has contributed to the growth of the alliance between the two countries. Cuba has a history of allowing US adversaries to use its soil to snoop on US communications, including during the Cold War when the Soviet Union operated a SIGINT facility in Havana.
